The recent string of controversies surrounding Joker ultimately did little to impact the movie’s chances of box office success, and may have even helped increase those numbers as people turned out in their droves to see what all the fuss is about. Not only did Todd Phillips’ R-rated origin story smash the October record after debuting to $96.2m over its first three days, but Joker has also earned more money in less than a week than the critically-savaged Dark Phoenix managed during its entire theatrical run.
On top of the record-breaking success at the domestic box office, Joker also performed incredibly well overseas to give the psychological character study an impressive worldwide opening of $248.4m. To put that into perspective, Dark Phoenix played in theaters for ten weeks and topped out at $252.4m, with a dismal domestic showing of just $65.8m.
By the time Monday’s box office numbers are in, Joker will have officially earned more in just five days than the twelfth installment of the X-Men franchise could muster in the whole time it was playing in theaters. Not only that, but with a budget reported to be close to $200m, Dark Phoenix will go down as a catastrophic bomb, while Joker came in at a thrifty $55m, ensuring the movie is already turning a huge profit for the studio.
Despite generating some negative headlines, Joker is turning out to be a massive success for Warner Bros. and DC, and while some of the unfavorable reviews could ultimately harm the movie’s potential chances of awards success, the Joaquin Phoenix-led flick has already cemented itself as one of the most talked-about blockbusters of the year.
